Australian Music Therapy Association

15/10/2026

Yesterday was Allied Health Professions Day, and this year's theme, Allied health, for everyone, everywhere, got us thinking about just how many places you'll find Registered Music Therapists 🎶

🏥 Hospitals, from neonatal units to rehab wards
🏫 Schools and early childhood settings
🏡 Aged care and dementia care
🧩 Disability services
🧠 Mental health services
🕊️ Palliative care
🤝 Community programs
🏢 Private practice
💻 Telehealth

Wherever people are, RMTs are there. A huge thank you to our music therapists and to all the allied health professionals they work alongside. 💛

Where have we missed?

24/09/2026

🎉 The full program for AMTA2026 National Symposium: Music Therapy in Motion is now live.

We're pleased to welcome Delphine Geia RMT as our final speaker. In ‘Music therapy can validate Indigenous cultural identity’, Delphine will explore how music therapy can support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through culturally responsive approaches that honour culture, spirituality, family and community connections. She will reflect on opportunities for music therapists to strengthen cultural identity and wellbeing across clinical and community settings.

💡 Movement 3: Innovating is all about opening new doors for music therapy.

We'll also hear from Tamia Hawkins RMT, Geena Cheung RMT and Chanelle Henderson RMT in our ‘Finding the right pitch?’ roundtable, sharing practical stories about opening doors for music therapy in new settings and demonstrating its value to organisations and communities.

📅 Thursday 12 November 2026
📍 Queensland Museum Kurilpa, Meanjin/Brisbane

🔗 https://www.austmta.org.au/news-and-events/events/2026-national-symposium/

23/09/2026

🎉 The Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) congratulates Dr Emma O’Brien OAM, RMT on her induction into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

Last night, 27 women and gender-diverse people were inducted into the Honour Roll at a ceremony at Arts Centre Melbourne. Dr O’Brien spoke on behalf of the inductees and became only the second music therapist to receive this honour, following Dr Lorna Lloyd-Green OBE CBE in 2001.

An internationally recognised music therapist, researcher, composer and creative leader, Dr O’Brien has pioneered innovative approaches to supporting patient, community and workforce wellbeing through music. She is the founder of music therapy at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, the RMH Scrub Choir, the Global Scrub Choir and the Music in Health program at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse and most recently she was appointed an honorary music therapy researcher at The Royal Women's Hospital.

Her leadership has supported thousands of healthcare workers, patients and communities, and gained international recognition, including a presentation at the United Nations and the World Federation of Music Therapy’s inaugural Crisis Response Award for the Global Scrub Choir’s work during the pandemic.

We congratulate Dr O’Brien on this significant and well-deserved recognition of her contribution to healthcare, research, community wellbeing and music therapy.

Find out more about this year’s inductees: https://www.vic.gov.au/victorian-honour-roll-of-women

21/09/2026

Our AMTA2026 Symposium: Music Therapy in Motion features four unique movements, each offering a different perspective.

This week, we’re thrilled to announce the speakers for Movement 2: Responding.

First, hear from Vannie Ip-Winfield RMT on ‘Using music for building therapeutic safety in a traumatised world’.

This presentation explores how music can provide a powerful foundation for therapeutic safety. Drawing on trauma-informed practice, clinical experience and contemporary mental health frameworks, this presentation invites us to consider music therapy not simply as an intervention, but as an embodied, relational and very human resource in our collective healing.

This will be followed by a panel discussion ‘New pathways to care: music therapy in community mental health’.

This collaborative conversation will explore an innovative creative pilot with interstate RMTs, examining new pathways for integrating music therapy into community mental health. Together, we will reflect on emerging practice, opportunities for collaboration, and the potential of music therapy to expand access to responsive, community-based care. We’ll hear from Dr Romy Engelbrecht RMT, Bonnie Nilsson RMT and Catherine Threlfall RMT, who have been at the cutting edge of the Primary Health Networks’ creative therapies for mental health pilot in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, respectively.

We’ll then keep the conversation going over lunch at our fully catered event.

We hope you’ll join us on 12 November at Queensland Museum Kurilpa in Meanjin/Brisbane.

🔗 https://www.austmta.org.au/news-and-events/events/2026-national-symposium/

16/09/2026

AMTA2026 National Symposium: Music Therapy in Motion is all about registered music therapists getting together to share practical insights, case studies and perspectives to create new opportunities, respond to emerging needs, develop innovative approaches and envision future directions in music therapy.

We’re thrilled to announce the speakers for our first session: Creating: opportunities, practice, communities. Delegates will hear from:

Lorna Berry RMT from Sing&Grow in Queensland

Natalie Oliveri RMT from Creative Therapy Adelaide

Rowan Harding RMT from Sing&Grow and Creative Therapy Adelaide

Start the day with a facilitated music and well being experience. After session 1, continue the conversation over morning tea at our fully catered event.

If you’re a registered music therapist or a music therapy student, Music Therapy in Motion is for you! We hope to see you for a day of growth on 12 November at Queensland Museum Kurilpa in Meanjin/Brisbane.

🔗 https://www.austmta.org.au/news-and-events/events/2026-national-symposium/

19/08/2026

AMTA is proud to launch AMTA2026 National Symposium: Music Therapy in Motion, this November in Brisbane.

- Connect with leaders in the profession.
- Learn from registered music therapists delivering innovation across Australia today.
- Build momentum with your professional community.

Registered music therapists and music therapy students are invited to celebrate a profession that’s active, evolving and making a difference. Through practical presentations, discussion and real-world examples, you'll explore contemporary practice, discover emerging opportunities and leave with fresh ideas, renewed confidence and practical insights you can apply in your own work.

Don’t miss this chance to explore new clinical ideas and inspiration, strengthen professional connections and reflect with colleagues. The symposium is your chance to celebrate the profession as it is today while exploring where we can go next.

When: Thursday, 12 November 2026
Where: Queensland Museum Kurilpa, Brisbane + online
Who: registered music therapists and music therapy students
Registration: open now from the AMTA website
🔗https://www.austmta.org.au/eventdetails/39827/amta2026-symposium

The symposium will conclude with a cross-sector panel exploring how we can continue to build on the strengths of our profession and create positive change together. Speaker announcements and registration details coming soon!

We're also pleased to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sing&Grow as part of this special event. Play Matters Australia

📷 Text-based asset that says "Music therapy in motion: national symposium. 12 November 2026. Qld Museum Kurilpa". The background is red, and at the top are stylised curves that indicate movement and momentum.

30/07/2026

Imagine a young patient in hospital who has trouble finding words at the right time... and then he sings. Share the moment when Xavier - offered the right amount of time, space and support from his deeply skilled registered music therapist Jo Rimmer RMT - sings along to the alphabet song. Here's what Jo told the wonderful team at Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne:

“For Xavier, he wasn’t able to verbalise on cue. So if you said to him, ‘Say “p”,’ he wasn’t able to do that.

“But if you gave him that lead-up, that predictability, with the rhythmic structure, he could.”

It’s a powerful, moving moment – and we’re so grateful for the opportunity to share it. AMTA sends enormous thanks to Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Xavier and his family, and Jo Rimmer RMT for permission to share.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ntOgDkwOQBA

Imagine a young patient in hospital who has trouble finding words a...

30/07/2026

Imagine a young patient in hospital who has trouble finding words at the right time... and then he sings. Share the moment when Xavier - offered the right amount of time, space and support from his deeply skilled registered music therapist Jo Rimmer RMT - sings along to the alphabet song. Here’s what Jo told the wonderful team at Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne:

“For Xavier, he wasn’t able to verbalise on cue. So if you said to him, ‘Say “p”,’ he wasn’t able to do that.

“But if you gave him that lead-up, that predictability, with the rhythmic structure, he could.”

It’s a powerful, moving moment – and we’re so grateful for the opportunity to share it. AMTA sends enormous thanks to Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Xavier and his family, and Jo Rimmer RMT for permission to share.

28/07/2026

This year's Census marks a milestone for registered music therapists.

For the first time, registered music therapists across Australia will have the opportunity to write 'Music Therapist' as their occupation in the Australian Census.

AMTA worked with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to clarify the new Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OCSA). The new occupation code for 'Music therapist: 261933' will:

- enable collection of high-quality data about our profession
- inform and shape educational pathways
- support workforce planning
- inform skilled migration programs.

We look forward to Census night on 11 August!

📷 A mock-up of one question in the Australian Census paper, asking "In the main job held last week, what was the person's occupation?" In the answer section, the occupation listed is "Music Therapist". Below the mock-up is a pencil and a notepad open to a page headed "Census night".

24/07/2026

Music Therapy Matters #5 has landed! Our quarterly newsletter is full of good news, including the remarkable moment when Xavier, who couldn't talk, sang.

Catch up on advocacy news, a wrap on World Music Therapy Week, and Australian registered music therapists honoured at the World Congress of Music Therapy.

https://mailchi.mp/016e6fbcf9f8/music-therapy-matters-edition4-9316761?e=[UNIQID]

The music therapy profession in Australia has always held a strong place in the global community. That was really on show this month at the World Congress of Music Therapy in Bologna, Italy! Many Australian registered music therapists were delegates and presenters - and several were honoured with aw...